When Mark Nelson of The Stabs isn’t being a Stab (or playing with the gazillion other Melbourne bands he’s involved with) he is Miniature Submarines.

A solo studio project that expands to a full band for live situations, Miniature Submarines is Nelson’s outlet for exploring poppier realms and for realising his nineties alternarock fantasies.

Released through Sydney label Rice Is Nice, Miniature Submarines’ debut two-song 7”, “The Little Room Under The Stairs” and “I Heard That You Turned Into A Loser, Baby”, can be got from good shops (like Re-Pressed Records) or the Rice Is Nice webstore.

UB.com’s Danger Coolidge interviewed the Mini Sub himself…

Is Miniature Submarines a solo project, a duo, a band or a Transformer?
Yes. Primarily it’s a solo recording project which other people may play on from time to time and from that it’s also become a live band.

What can Miniature Submarines do that The Stabs can’t?
Miniature Submarines allows me to get in touch with my sensitive side. The Stabs is my rock band, this is my pop band.

Folks have said the sound is “very nineties”. Are you more flattered than insulted by such comments?
I’m totally down with that. Flattered, in total agreement and stoked. The nineties is when I learned all about music, of course it’s going to come out in my writing.

What is your favourite celebrity gossip magazine?
New Weekly. I love the way they throw the term “Love Rat” around.

First release was “The Little Room Under The Stairs” b/w “I Heard That You Turned Into A Loser, Baby” 7”. Why release those two first – were they just the best songs you had at the time or did they seem to fit together conceptually?
I’ve got lots of songs demoed but those two seemed the most appropriate to start with. I think they sit well together on a 7″ and the other songs I have are more suited to a 10″ and then an album. I think the releases will get progressively more mellow. Sort of.

Rice Is Nice in Sydney put it out. That was nice of them. How did the offer come about?
Huh. They wrote to me offering to release The Stabs and I pretended I thought they were talking about Miniature Submarines. Since then we’ve all become good friends and they’ve done many wonderful things for me. They really are good people and they run a really good label and are very helpful and supportive to their friends.

What’s your favourite sport to watch on tele?
I really like watching cricket on television. I’ve been to many matches but I prefer to watch it from the couch. I like the replays, the close ups, the commentary.  The sound of the cricket is very relaxing. My other sport is basketball – I once spent a month in San Francisco that revolved around being home every day at 5pm for the NBA playoffs.

What do you plan to record/release next under the Miniature Submarines banner?
I’m half way through recording a three song 10″ at Birdland but I owe them money and can’t finish it until I cough up. It will be out by the middle of this year and then I’ll record an album. Like I said I’ve already done demos for all of the songs. In the next couple of weeks the live band is going to record a song for a split 7″ with Bleach – another Melbourne solo/band/transformer thing.

Besides Mini Subs and The Stabs, what other projects are you involved with right now?
Love of Diagrams, Parading, The Breadmakers, Alex Jarvis, Das Butcher, Southern Comfort and in April I’m doing a one off gig as the bass player in a Nirvana cover band – it’s gonna be sick.

What is your ultimate holiday destination?
As much as I’d love to see all that highbrow shit like pyramids and jungles and lions and tigers and bears right now I’d most like to go to some tropical island paradise and sit on a beach drinking rum out of coconuts.

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“The Little Room Under The Stairs” b/w “I Heard That You Turned Into A Loser, Baby” 7” is out through Rice Is Nice

Miniature Submarines MySpace: www.myspace.com/miniaturesubmarines